OPEN HOUSE • ALL FOUR SCHOOLS

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2005 • 1 PM TO 4 PM

amount of time arranging the
prayers in the Braille version of
the text so that its pages are in the
same order as they will be recited
in the service, with the hope that
no more than three volumes will
be needed during any one service.
"I take a lot of my direction
from him',' said Pearl Lam, JBI
International director of library
operations, who is working closely
with Dr. Nemeth on the Artscroll.
"He is so knowledgeable on com-
pilation. He is really right all the
time'

Finalizing The Text

Once the book is in order, Dr.
Nemeth uses a proofreading sys-
tem he devised for comparing the
written word to the Braille.
Since he is unable to see the
printed text, he relies on two
sources, one human and several
mechanical.
Because the electronic scanning
system that transcribes the print
into Braille tends to create errors in
letters and omissions of punctua-
tion, he uses a remarkable con-
traption called the opticion.
"It turns a printed document
into raised lettering so a person
who cannot see the page can feel
the shape of the letters',' Lam said.
"It involves a camera that I hold
in my right hand that I run across
the Braille page Dr. Nemeth said.
"Whatever it sees, it causes little
pins to pop up in the shape of the
letters and vibrate in my left hand."
Lam said,"Dr. Nemeth knows
the feel of the raised Hebrew letters
and the vowels by touching them
with his fingers. That way he is
able to read the original and com-
pare it to the Braille transcription:'
she said. "Not every blind person
can use it. He is performing a feat
that most human beings cannot."
Another technical obstacle is
that the Braille pages go from left
to right, even when they are tran-
scribed in Hebrew, so Dr. Nemeth
needs to reverse their order so the
pages will turn the way a Hebrew
text does.
In addition, because each line of
Braille must have exactly 40 char-
acters, corrections made often
change the amount of characters
in the line, making adjustments to
many lines necessary.
No wonder Dr. Nemeth can work
on no more than five to 10 pages a

IN

October 20 2005

day.
Two days a week, Dr. Nemeth
works on the Artscroll with Abe
Pasternak of Southfield, a volun-
teer from Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit's Jewish
Family Service in West Bloomfield.
"He actually came to help do
things like read my mail to me, but
quickly I found out his expertise in
Hebrew is excellent, so we work on
the book together instead:' Dr.
Nemeth said.
"What we work on is the proof-
reading phase said Pastenak."Dr.
Nemeth reads the Braille and I fol-
low along in the Artscroll to make
sure the words are in the right
order and the vowels are all cor-
rect:" In addition to the invaluable
help he offers Dr. Nemeth,
Pasternak said, "He ended up
teaching me so much. He taught
me grammar I didn't know and
some unusual punctuation that
you don't see very often. I didn't
realize I would enjoy this work so
much."
After more than a year of work-
ing together, he said, "I have no
intentions of leaving. I'll be there
for whatever's next:'
So, says Dr. Nemeth, will he.

made my first documentary at
Country Day when I didn't get
into the school play my senior
year. Film was something I had never
really considered before, but was the
best thing that ever happened to m

I *a s n't at the very top of my class
academically, or a star athlete, but
I knew what I was good at and
Country Day helped me pursue it.
So much attention is paid to each
student in every way. They allowed
me to focus on what I knew I could

do best. Getting into N.Y.U. Film
School and having a film exhibited
at Cannes were dreams come true.

I used to limit myself. I don't do
that anymore.

You leave Country Day with the
mindset that you're a winner.
Everything that you do and
everything you present to the
• • world is done with such enthusiasm
and in the right spirit. Everybody I
-know who graduated from Country
Day is on such a beautiful path.

It's bigger than an educational
experience - it's a life experience.
0
Stefenie Sasson, '00

Independent filmmaker
OWTre Sasson Pictures

A Point Of Light

Among Dr. Nemeth's many hon-
ors is being named by former
President George H.W. Bush as
one of his Thousand Points of
Light, in the program recognizing
outstanding individuals.
In 1991, Dr. Nemeth was
appointed as chair of the
Michigan Commission for the
Blind by former Gov. John Engler.
"In that capacity I negotiated
with legislators to pass a bill that
would require teachers to teach
Braille to blind children;' he said.
"More than half of our states —
so far — have accepted the bill,
including Michigan."
In 1972, the Russian govern-
ment hosted Dr. Nemeth and his
wife so he could teach about the
Nemeth Code. He was invited
back in 1976 to teach how blind
individuals can access the screen
of a computer.
In a home filled with awards
and plaques — including those
from the Division on Visual
Impairments of the Council for

True Visionary on page 20

-

DETROIT CO

1111111M INIMIN

TRY DAY SCHOOL

Achievement means something different to each and every child.
At Detroit Country Day School, our exceptional faculty provides both
the nurturing and the challenges needed for our students to discover
what achievement means to them - to accomplish what they thought
they never could, and to learn how good their best can really be.

We invite you to discover what the Spirit of Achievement can mean
for your son or daughter. Please call us at (248) 646-7717,
or learn more at www.dcds.edu . Detroit Country Day School.
Because the right school will change a child's future.

19